


brooke and rich,

by CupcakeOfAwesomeness



Series: arsonist and old lace [1]
Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Childhood Friends, First Meetings, Gen, Kindergarten, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-13 11:20:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29152650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CupcakeOfAwesomeness/pseuds/CupcakeOfAwesomeness
Summary: They met when they were five years old.[or: why rich only attended kindergarten for one (1) week]
Series: arsonist and old lace [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2139942
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	brooke and rich,

**Author's Note:**

> Wow I have SO many bmc fics,,,,,,
> 
> Hey! So here's another arsonberry fic from me, except this time it's not a superhero au, it's a mini series of short one-shots based on the old song you'd sing as kids to tease each other, you know the one:
> 
> "[name] and [name],  
> Sittin' in a tree!  
> K-I-S-S-I-N-G!  
> First comes love,  
> Then comes marriage,  
> Then comes a baby in a baby carriage!"
> 
> So there are going to be six lil fics in this series which I'm calling _Arsonist and Old Lace_ SPECIFICALLY because of an episode from the 1978 TV show _Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys_ , the episode being called _Arson and Old Lace_ , which, in turn, was a play on the title of a 1944 movie called _Arsenic and Old Lace_. (I mentioned all of this in the notes of RBC chapter 5 bc I initially wanted to call that chapter it and aNYWAYS)
> 
> This first fic is simply a recounting of how they first met (though they wouldn't quite remember years later)

They met in kindergarten. Of course, they only knew each other for a matter of days; Mr. Goranski decided that kindergarten wasn't worth the drive, so his son was quickly unenrolled. If he ever came back to the same elementary school as her, she was never aware of it. 

(At five years old, Brooke Lohst was rambunctious. She loved running around and getting messy. She wanted to join soccer, like a friend she made last year at preschool, Jenna, but Mommy said no. She said that girls didn't play soccer—it was unladylike. Jenna didn't think so. Brooke didn't either, but she couldn't disobey her mommy. 

Brooke's cheeks were scattered with freckles and her eyes were the colour of dirt, which Jenna thought was funny, so Brooke did too. Jenna's eyes were dark like coal and her skin was too; Brooke thought it was pretty, like chocolate, but Mommy didn't like it as much. She didn't say anything out loud—she just got a sour face, like she'd eaten a lemon. Brooke overheard Mommy complaining to Gramma and Grampa about how Uncle Darius had married a Black girl, and how Brooke was growing up around her cousin, Kat, and friend, Jenna, like it was a bad thing. Brooke decided to ignore it and keep playing with her Littlest Pet Shops. 

Her face was constantly covered in stickers and band-aids. She fell down a lot when she and Jenna and Kat would jump off of big rocks or logs or the playground, and so Mommy had to patch her up a lot. She liked fun colours, like pink and yellow and blue. Then, Kat had taken some sticky stars and put them on Brooke's freckles. After that, Jenna had some puppy dog stickers which she placed on Brooke's forehead and chin. A shy boy with a bright blue teddy bear in his backpack watched with awe-filled eyes; Brooke put a sparkly heart sticker on his nose. Mommy wasn't happy when Brooke got home—they kept doing it though. 

Before Brooke turned six, Mommy had a baby. Her name was Gracie, she said, and she also said that Brooke needed to set a better example for her baby sister. Apparently, monkey bars and bruises and silly dances and goofy noises were bad examples for a baby. So Brooke stopped. She watched Kat on the monkey bars and Jenna jumping off of the swingset. She didn't join in on dance parties or funny noise contests anymore. She had to be a big sister now; she wasn't allowed to be silly or rough, she needed to be _good_. Even though she still wasn't quite sure what had been _bad_ before, she couldn't disobey Mommy.

By the time she was six, she had forgotten about meeting Rich Goranski in the first week of school.)

(At five years old, Rich Goranski was shy. Momma said it was okay to be shy, then Daddy would get angry and yell at her, and Ray would take Rich into another room. Rich didn't understand what was happening; Ray said he didn't want to. Rich felt scared a lot, and he carried his teddy with him everywhere. Mr. Snugglyblu was his name and he was a Very Important member of their family. He made Rich feel safer, calmer, less like his tummy was eating him from the inside out. Daddy said it was stupid, but Momma said the opposite. He trusted Momma. 

Momma said he could take Mr. Snugglyblu to school as long as he kept him in his backpack. Daddy said no—Momma didn't care. She kissed Rich on the forehead every day before he entered kindergarten. He met loads of nice kids and couldn't remember all of their names. There was one girl with stickers on her face and the biggest smile he'd ever seen. He liked her a _lot_. The first week, he'd come home every day and talk about the fun he had and the girls he was friends with. He got along with girls better; Daddy said he was gonna turn out gay. He didn't know what gay meant, but the way his daddy said it made his chest hurt and heart frown. He didn't want to be gay. Momma said gay wasn't bad. He didn't need to think about it right now, she said. Just be _happy_. 

Then, Momma died. 

He couldn't be happy, not now. Neither could Ray or Daddy. It was just a house of sad. He didn't have to go to kindergarten again on Monday; Daddy sat him in front of the TV and played Sesame Street for as long as Rich would sit still. He thought he would go back to school the next day, but he didn't. Instead, he watched Sesame Street. Then again. And again. And again. Kindergarten was a waste of time and gas, Daddy said—why go to a classroom for three hours a day when Sesame Street taught the same things? Rich wasn't sure what he was supposed to do, so he just nodded and stared at the TV. 

Before he turned six, he was reading big words and picture books by himself. Ray had helped a bit—so had Sesame Street. Rich did most of the learning on his own, though. He was tired of TV and wanted to read his books, but Daddy was drunk and Ray was at school. After enough Sesame Street to get him started, and Ray helping him more after suppertime, before he had to do his big kid homework, Rich was a reader. Momma would be proud, Ray told him. Rich beamed and, for a moment, he recalled that girl from kindergarten with the stickers and big smile. 

By the time he turned six, that had been the final time he'd thought of Brooke Lohst.)

They wouldn't meet again—not _truly_ —until they were much older. Yet, neither could deny, that was where everything started. 

**Author's Note:**

> My grandpa actually did pull my dad out of kindergarten after, like, a day or something and just showed him Sesame Street, that's a true story 😂 I figured Rich's dad would do that too lol (except my grandpa did it more as a "you're the youngest of five, it's not worth the long drive, you'll be fine" and he was so no harm no foul 😂)
> 
> Brooke's mom sucks btw 😌✨ she's Not Great in TWBS and she might even be worse here? Anyways, she doesn't think that sports and goofing around and stuff are "ladylike" so she tries to force her five year old daughter to be submissive and subservient oop
> 
> Rich's mom dies in a car crash and his dad goes further into an alcoholic stupor!!! Ray is old enough to walk by himself and goes to a different school that's closer, but out of their catchment and Rich didn't get in and thus was enrolled in a school further away, so anyways that's why he's still going to school while Rich is forced to stay home and watch Sesame Street lol
> 
> Kat's (aka Brooke's cousin, Katrina Lohst's) faceclaim is Morgan Siobhan Green!!! I mention her a bit in TWBS lol (most of my fics end up having crossover (character-wise at least lol). And Jenna is obviously Tiffany Mann, Brooke is Lauren Marcus, and Rich is Gerard Canonico!!!! Bc I love the Broadway cast 💜 
> 
> Honestly I don't know what else to say!! Hopefully the next fic will come out soon, but I actually have, like, eight BMC fics I'm working on rn????? So please be patient with me I'm just a girl with Too Many Ideas 😂😅😭 I hope you enjoyed this!!!! Thank you so much for reading!!!! ~Jayce


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